Legislation to protect homeowners from criminal and defiant trespassers.
Amending Title 10 of The Philadelphia Code, entitled “Regulation of Individual Conduct and Activity,” Chapter 10-800, “Safety,” by adding a new Section 10-840, “Criminal and Defiant Trespassers,” establishing and clarifying procedures to remove criminal and defiant trespassers from real property, all under certain terms and conditions.
Sponsors: Councilmember Oh, Councilmember Bass, Councilmember Blackwell, Councilmember Domb, Councilmember Henon, Councilmember Green, Councilmember O’Neill, Councilmember Squilla
(1) Legislative Findings.
(a) Criminal and defiant trespassers create a condition that could erupt in
violence endangering lives and promoting the prospect of injuries to persons and damage
to properties, all of which poses a serious risk to the public health, safety and welfare.
(b) Criminal and defiant trespassers have no rights to occupy residential property
as against the rights of the current owner or authorized agent of said residential
property.
(c) There is also confusion about whether criminal and defiant trespassers are
tenants. They are not, and have none of the rights of tenants.